Infrastructure Victoria research reveals impact of driverless and electric cars on state

EVERYONE driving automated and zero-emission vehicles sounds good, right? Not so fast. Here’s what would happen to our electricity network if everyone switched to plug-in vehicles.

A MOVE to electric cars could potentially strain Victoria’s electricity network as research reveals the state’s energy consumption would surge under the technology.

Infrastructure Victoria on Monday released a report into the future of automated and zero-emission vehicles ahead of a series of recommendations to be handed down in October.

It found that if the entire state switched to electric cars tomorrow, our energy consumption would rise by as much as 56 per cent and create added strain during peak periods.

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Infrastructure Victoria's vision of Chapel St with only automated and electric vehicles. Picture: Supplied

But a move to driverless cars could potentially solve Melbourne’s congestion crisis by cutting the number of cars on the road down to 260,000 by 2046.

“There is a lot of hype around driverless and zero-emission vehicles and our research shows that while they could deliver profound benefits, they also present challenges that need to be addressed,” project director Dr Allison Stewart said.

“It seems most of the countries that have significant uptake of electric vehicle charging to do so at home.

“We see a significant increase in requirements for peak demand to match that scenario.”

The infrastructure body estimated that fully automated and zero emissions cars could reduce road deaths by 94 per cent and save up to $735 million in annual health costs.

Driverless cars would effectively eliminate congestion and make road networks more efficient even when mixed with vehicles driven by humans.

Infrastructure Victoria's vision of The Monash Freeway with only automated and electric vehicles. Picture: Supplied

Infrastructure Victoria CEO Michel Masson said the technology could reshape our cities.

“What we can see through this evidence base is that there are a range of impacts from driverless and zero emissions vehicles across the whole spectrum of Victorian infrastructure, from energy, to land use, to our transport networks,” he said.

“What’s striking with the findings is that there is a point in time when you will really have to question whether you need to build an additional road.

“Over the past eight months we have spoken to experts, considered the existing literature, undertaken ten different research projects and conducted our own analysis to develop the significant evidence base we have published.”